No More New Cases of unknown disease were reported from last two days at Muzaffarpur

By – Dr Navneet Ranjan(Public Health Specialist) : It was observed that Children are admitted mainly to KDKM and SKMCH, Muzaffarpur who suffered from unknown disease. It’s also worth to note the closure of children’s ward at Sadar Hospital,Muzaffarpur at this crucial juncture. So far 140 cases were admitted out of them 50 deaths occurred,77 patient were discharged,7 reffered whereas 4 are under treatment. There are no case admitted in the last two days(as on 7/7/2011).There are many teams of doctors, scientist came to Muzaffarpur to understand this unknown disease. The first team sent by the state health department comprises the experts from RMRI, Patna to the district; the team had collected the blood samples which have been sent to a specialised laboratory in Pune for examination.

Second team was a two member team from National Institute of Virology, Pune, headed by Dr Tandle and consisting of Dr C D Raut also visited the Hospitals where children are admitted. Brain tissues from dead patients were collected to determine a definite line of treatment.

Related posts

The central team comprises Dr. S.K. Jain, Joint Director, National Centre for Disease Contro,B.R. Thapar, Entomologist from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, Delhi; and I.P. Choudhary, Senior Specialist (Pediatrics), Safdarjung Hospital. They, also visited two adjacent villages including Kolhua Paigambarpur under Kanti block and Tiwary Tola under Mushahari block as majority of cases have been reported from these places.

On the basis of discussion with Child specialists of Muzaffarpur it is evident that the disease is not at all bacterial, but it is viral. Every symptom (High fever with convulsion) of the disease is matching with those of encephalitis. However, technically speaking, the conclusive finding would be clear only after the lab investigation report.

We are still waiting for the final diagnosis of this unknown disease. outbreak communication play great role ,if implemented effectively, will result in greater public resilience and guide appropriate public participation to support the rapid containment of an outbreak, thus limiting morbidity and mortality. In addition, effective outbreak communication will minimize the damage to a nation’s interna-tional standing, its economy and its public health infrastructure. .Lets pray for those children who suffered or still suffering.